The first episode of Deca-Dence, the new original anime from VVVVID, surprised most fans positively thanks to a fascinating plot and two extremely charismatic protagonists. On the contrary, the second has showed a colossal turn, big enough to completely rewrite the plot and move the fan base.

So what happened in the second episode? Let’s try to sort it out.

In Deca-Dence, humanity is at risk of extinction due to dangerous monsters called Gadolls. The survivors live in the mobile fortress of Deca-Dence, which is powered by a substance called “Oxyone”, which can be extracted from the body of monsters. Mankind therefore lives in this colossal fortress and trains two types of warriors to survive: equipment and tankers. The former fight monsters, while the latter provide support by cleaning weapons, dissecting killed gadolls, and doing other minor tasks. Natsume, the protagonist, loses an arm as a young man, but still manages to reach the position of a tanker. During his work, he learns from ex-fighter Kaburagi, to whom he tells his dreams and ambitions.

In the second episode, however, something absolutely unexpected happens. The first few minutes show that Deca-Dence is actually nothing more than a “playground” used by some alien creatures, including Kaburagi itself.

Don’t get me wrong, Deca-Dence is not a kind of “virtual simulation”, but a real mobile fortress created by an alien society called Solid Quake Corporationwho took advantage of the war between Gadoll and humans to create some kind of an “RPG” to maximize their profits. Humanity is indeed in danger of extinction, but the protagonist Natsumi – like all other real people – doesn’t know that the gears are really nothing more than the “avatars” of these alien species that fight against the Gadolls to collect points, and war like a game treat online. In the event that a gearwheel should lose its life in battle, the alien could easily create another avatar in it and start over.

The anime is therefore neither a simple post-apocalyptic shonen nor a fantasy anime with style Kabaneri or The attack of the giants. We’ll see how Studio NUT handled the story, confusing at the moment, but certainly original.

Are you all right? Let us know with a comment! If you want to know more instead, we recommend that you take a look at our first study on Deca-Dence.


Anime

About the Author

Sweety Otaku

One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

View All Articles